CONFERENCE
Thanks to a generous bequest from a former student of the Faculty, Sigurds Lindiņš, the idea of creating a Gallery of Deans of the Faculty of Law was realised in 2012.
Lindiņš began his studies at what was then the Faculty of Economics and Law in 1937. However, in 1939, he was conscripted for compulsory Latvian national military service, which forced him to discontinue his studies. He was subsequently compelled to serve in both the Red Army and the Latvian Legion, and the ensuing events of the Second World War did not spare his family. After the war, he was unable to continue his studies due to both financial constraints and the fact that, in exile in the UK, he discovered a completely different legal system. His dream of becoming a lawyer remained unfulfilled.
Lindiņš spent the rest of his life in Australia, where he passed away in 2000 and is now interred at Lestene Brethren Cemetery. In his will, he left funds “to the Dean of the Faculty, to be used for the use and benefit of the Faculty”.
“I suppose he was reminiscing about those beautiful days of his youth in a free Latvia, coming from a penniless and unspoilt family, looking forward to a promising future, aiming to realise his dream of becoming a lawyer and working in his own country. Then came the harsh blows of fate, and everything he had planned came crashing down. He was left without a degree, which must have been devastating, although he never spoke of it. The pain in his heart may have driven him to sacrifice something for his youthful dreams,” says Sigurds Lindiņš’ widow, Laima Eleonora Lindiņa, who has now supplemented her husband’s bequest to the Faculty with her own funds.
Kristīne Strada-Rozenberga, Dean of the Faculty of Law, remarked at the opening ceremony that “such love for the chosen profession and loyalty to one’s university is truly admirable”, and so the faculty has found a way to keep the memory of its former student alive. The idea of creating a gallery of the deans of the faculty was long and carefully planned and was finally realised with the funds provided in Sigurds Lindiņš’s will. Just as the walls of the Senate Hall of the University of Latvia are adorned with portraits of former rectors, the newly created Faculty’s Sitting Hall is a place where the history of the Faculty of Law is explored and its deans are displayed, along with a memorial plaque in memory of a former student.
The philanthropic funds have also been used to create the Papinian Prize for eminent legal scholars, as well as bronze statues of Themis, the goddess of justice, to award students who have excelled in moot court competitions.
Anna Justīne Čakste-Rollins (USA, Arizona) is the granddaughter of Jānis Čakste, the first President of the Republic of Latvia and a Professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Latvia, and the daughter of Professor Konstantīns Čakste. Despite his high offices, Jānis Čakste was also active in the field education. He played a significant role in establishing the Faculty of Economics and Law. He was the first lecturer in the Public International Law course. On 14 November 1919, J. Čakste was elected Professor. Konstantīns Čakste graduated the Faculty in 1925. In 1928, he was elected a Junior Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Law and became a popular lecturer among students over the years. In 1931, after defending his habilitation thesis “The Purchase of Rent in Latvia and Abroad”, Čakste became a private assistant professor at the Department of Civil Law at the University of Latvia and, in 1934, an assistant professor. From 1935 onwards, he also lectured in commercial law. In 1937, he became a senior assistant professor, later an extraordinary professor, and taught a course on commercial and civil law for economists. Since 2011, a bequest by Anna Justine Čakste-Rollins has allocated 10% of the sales from Konstantin Čakste’s book “Civil Law” to benefit students and faculty at the Faculty of Law. These funds have been used to equip a lecture room for PhD students and a conference room at the Faculty.
